"Silence, Earthlings. My name is Darth Vader!"

scapegoat ;

noun.

a person who is unfairly BLAMED and/or receives PUNISHMENT for things are not entirely their fault. sometimes to DISTRACT from the real issue in the big picture.

"Oh! You really are human!" Gamma exclaimed lightly the moment he saw Grace on the beach. "Your Eridian friends seemed so eager for me to meet you in person I did actually wonder about it. Though it's not the strangest thing I've encountered by far."

He gave Grace a warm smile that matched his light, almost peppy tone of voice. Taking these book fairs from star system to star system always had a way of really cheering him up. After all, he was bringing something so simply and yet so meaningful to the far stretches of the galaxy.

"Here," he said, presenting Grace with a starpad that had a list of genres. "If there's anything you're interested in, it can be yours. Mind you, they're not digital copies. No sense in travelling all the way out to Eridani just to offer digital copies, you know?"

He glanced around at the biodome and nodded, "This is a really nice place you've got. Oh, the name's Gamma, by the way, Gamma Trestoo, Keeper of Books."

Grace looked up towards the cheerful voice, tossing aside the stick he was using to doodle in the sand. Rocky did mention making contact with another spaceship, another human. He was a little skeptical, but if aliens were real, then a human with technology far more sophisticated than that of Earth's was. Not as surprising. Maybe.

He matched the man's smile with a little one of his own. From what Rocky had told him, this man introduced himself as a librarian going around space? Sounds like it was ripped straight out of a sci-fi movie, but at this point, anything goes. Doesn't mean he isn't curious though.

He accepted the starpad with a light "thanks", briefly inspecting the tablet in his hands. It seemed similar to the one he had. He perused the list of genres, excitement clearly visible in his growing grin. He desperately needed more books he could hold.

"Can I say how glad I am that you're here? Because I am. I sadly only have six books on hand. Well. If I'm counting the ship's manual as one." A few genres caught his eye: sci-fi, mystery, horror; heck he might even pick out some literature. Variety is the spice of life as they say.

"Ah, very nice to meet you Gamma. I'm Grace. Ryland Grace. Glad you like this place, the Eridians worked tirelessly to create it. I'm a really lucky guy, haha." He gestured to their surroundings before refocusing on the tablet in hand.

"You sure are the Keeper of Books alright, because I didn't even know this many genres of books existed." He pointed out a few genres. "I'll take anything you have on these please!" He paused for a moment, a thought occuring to him.

Being in new places was always interesting to Gamma but ever since the ordeal that had nearly gotten him killed, he wasn't the most trusting of new places either. Book fairs that went to various star systems could be trusted though, Gamma was certain, as the only harm that had ever occurred when one of these came around was spending all of his credits on every book he got a hold of.

Gamma studied Grace before him, taking in as many important details as he could. The other seemed pleasant enough! After all, if Grace was dull or perhaps even dangerous why would he light up at the sight of so many books on the list?

"Only six?" Gamma nodded his head. "Well honestly it's not too surprising. There are places where books area absolutely forbidden and even just having one in your hands can be a death sentence. And also no, manuals do not ever really count as books."

As much as he should, Gamma was not one for manuals…

"Ah hello, Ryland Grace, I'm glad that we could come out this way! There's a lot of repair going on in this section of the galaxy with that star algae still rampant over here. Glad to see that Eridani and Sol have recovered, other areas, not so much. The Eridians are amazing architects and engineers then! If they ever considered leaving this sector they'd probably enjoy creating space stations."

He chuckled lightly, already enjoying Grace's presence quite a bit. It was nice to feel important rather than just another worker. "Yeah well, this is already basically covered. Just don't order too many all at once. Charity only goes so far."

"Well it's not exactly forbidden on Earth to own books, I just got caught up in some.. unique.. circumstances which prevented me from bringing more. A real shame." He sighed out with exaggerated exasperation. Whatever happened to his beloved comic collection, he'll never know.

He absorbed Gamma's words with great interest, noting the specific words used to address the Astrophage problem. Sol has recovered. Those three words alone were enough to bring forth a surge of emotion. Relief, joy, and a mellow taste of homesickness. He tilted his head back for a moment, keeping the tears back as he exhaled a breathy laugh.

"Haha well I don't think the Eridians will be launching back into space anytime soon, but who knows? I mean they've been devouring the entirety of Wikipedia. Uh, that is, the entire database of human knowledge." He quickly casted his gaze downwards to the tablet to hide the glassy shimmer in his eyes.

"Right, okay, uhh.. think I'll take these few books for now then!" He eventually settled on five books to boot, hoping he hadn't asked for too much.

— @4stravoric

That is a… strange way to start that question, but I’ll roll with it.

I don’t really have a favorite movie, really. I like a lot of movies. I’m a sucker for the ‘cult classics’ like Fight Club, Rocky, and unironically the Princess Bride.

I think I’m about six feet tall? Prolonged space travel and life on a planet with increased gravity compared to earth might’ve atrophied some stuff, so I’m not entirely sure. You?

The first time I met an alien, I was petrified he was going to lay eggs in me or go full ‘Alien’ on me, too. Good thing he turned out to just be a normal dude and an engineering nerd.

Roughly about the same height, what a coincidence! Hah. Haha. Uhm. The elephant in the room is staring me down now and I don't like it. Let's see, similar interests in movies, similar height. We're both not.. on Earth I'm guessing. We both encountered an alien.. and you thought what I did.. and that five-legged alien turned out to be a genius craftsman...

Okay. Meeting an alien is one thing. What is even going on anymore? Are we even real. Did our timelines collide and is reality as we know it about to collapse?

I wonder what the differences between our lives would be, or if one of us is just a reflection of the other’s mind, somehow warped and duplicated. Is this because I was messing with worm holes..? Maybe getting internet access was not worth breaking a hole in the fabric of space. Rocky definitely is another factor for that— he is obsessed with that game…

—sorry, uh— nice to meet you as well. I am… also Ryland Grace. You knew that… eh— hi? What’s up..?

At any given moment, the next frame of time holds infinite possibilities until you decide what happens next. It could be as simple as doing nothing at all. If you did mess with worm holes well... I could only assume you've somehow allowed for multiple possibilities to co-exist next to each other which. Should be impossible. It's a paradox no matter how I look at it but.. it somehow isn't.

Whatever it is, I seriously respect the dedication in experimenting with worm holes to get Internet. Bet your Internet speed is much faster than mine. I'm a little bummed by the fact I didn't get to tinker with worm holes, but that might be for the best. Wouldn't want anymore... spacetime collisions and dimensions mushing together.

Well, I've got all the time on Erid to figure out differences with you. You, me, and every other Grace that may or may not exist could all just be reflections of each other. Like walking in a warped mirror maze. I like to think we're all distinct individuals though, as contradicting as that sounds. I don't like the thought of there being a "real" Grace. I am Grace, and you are also Grace.

Would we end up being a different person at the end of it, or are we still fundamentally the same? At what point does one version separate from the other? I don’t know how to figure out those answers, and honestly I’m not sure I will want them when I have them. None of this makes sense, but it must make some sort of sense to be existing in the first place.

I only started experimenting with worm holes because I was desperate to know if I was successful. I needed to know that I hadn’t doomed Earth by saving Erid and Rocky, you know?

Though, you not using wormholes is an interesting conundrum to me as well. How did you get internet access without breaking a hole in the fabric of space? Isn’t Earth more than a dozen light years away, if our universes spacing are the same, at least?

I do agree that we are both distinct and individual in consciousness. I’d also assume that we reflect each other— I am as much as a reflection of you as you are of me. We are the same person, just interpreted in different ways. Like a book and its spin off written by a different author, except we would both view the other as the spin off, when neither of us are the ‘original’, nor are we not the ‘original’. If… that makes any sense.

I think just as everything else is, there's layers to it yeah? Nuance. Are we breaching philosophical territory now? Well I'm definitely not an expert in this but "fundamentally" as in genetic makeup? Every single version would come out testing 100% positive for Grace haha. Unless. There's a version of Grace who underwent some sort of... mutation? Do I get to shoot webs in an alternate dimension??

Experiences play a bigger role though in my opinion. Bend anything with enough force at its weak point, and it'll shatter no matter what it's made of. So I'm almost certain there's probably Graces out there which. I might not even recognize as a version of myself. Ouch, this is really hurting my head to think about.

Earth is 16.3 light years away from Erid! I share the same intentions when figuring out how to obtain Internet access, but some little part of me just believed. Isn't that what Project Hail Mary was built on? All we've done since the beginning was believe, because obviously, nobody wanted the alternative of extinction. Or well. Mostly nobody.

As for how I achieved Internet access without ripping holes in reality... we sort of went the old-fashioned route of an incredibly, seriously, superbly and ridiculously long wire. It's amazing what the Eridians are capable of when provided with the entirety of human research. In Rocky's words: "Eridian build very strong relay, link relay together like wire, Grace get signal." It takes days for transmissions, but I'm not complaining at all.

Want to add to collected Graces!

(Not sure how they feel about being tagged. But will leave here)

2 more Graces!

Dr-Ryland-G4ce & Rylandgrace-phd

All the Graces!

5 more total. :)

Did do a good job, question?

MORE GRACE! AHHHH

@4stravoric

@dr-rylandgrace

@drgraceinspace

@dr-ryland-g4ace

Want to add to collected Graces!

(Not sure how they feel about being tagged. But will leave here)

2 more Graces!

Dr-Ryland-G4ce & Rylandgrace-phd

All the Graces!

5 more total. :)

Did do a good job, question?

MORE GRACE! AHHHH

@4stravoric

@dr-rylandgrace

@drgraceinspace

@dr-ryland-g4ace